New Testament Resources

[PacMan]

What are the best New Testament resources - both LDS and non-LDS out there? I'm trying to get a collection of them.

[cinepro]

You could start with the LDS New Testament Institute Manual

And if you're going to be studying the words of the ancient Apostles, who better than a latter day Apostle to be your guide?

[PacMan]

Good . . . but I was thinking more along the lines of Lightfoot or Ehrman, etc.

[Nevo]

What are the best New Testament resources - both LDS and non-LDS out there? I'm trying to get a collection of them.

There are very few LDS books that I would recommend. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment's latest might be worth a look. I thought their earlier collaboration (with Eric Huntsman), Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament, was pretty good. Richard Lloyd Anderson's Understanding Paul is probably the best LDS treatment of Paul. (I haven't read Wayment's biography of Paul though.) I also liked Richard and Jeni Holzapfel's Sisters at the Well: Women and the Life and Teachings of Jesus.

As for the "best" non-LDS New Testament resources, there are scores of them. If you're wanting to build a collection of scholarly books, I would start with a good NT introduction. I like Raymond Brown's, but Bart Ehrman has a good one, as does Luke Timothy Johnson.

You should get something on the parables. A recent one is Klyne Snodgrass's Stories with Intent. For something a bit edgier, try Bernard Brandon Scott's Hear Then the Parable.

Though an older work, Joachim Jeremias's Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus is an important reference on the social and economic background of the NT. For the Judaism of the time, I think E.P. Sanders's Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 BCE

[PacMan]

There are very few LDS books that I would recommend. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment's latest might be worth a look. I thought their earlier collaboration (with Eric Huntsman), Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament, was pretty good. Richard Lloyd Anderson's Understanding Paul is probably the best LDS treatment of Paul. (I haven't read Wayment's biography of Paul though.) I also liked Richard and Jeni Holzapfel's Sisters at the Well: Women and the Life and Teachings of Jesus.

As for the "best" non-LDS New Testament resources, there are scores of them. If you're wanting to build a collection of scholarly books, I would start with a good NT introduction. I like Raymond Brown's, but Bart Ehrman has a good one, as does Luke Timothy Johnson.

You should get something on the parables. A recent one is Klyne Snodgrass's Stories with Intent. For something a bit edgier, try Bernard Brandon Scott's Hear Then the Parable.

Though an older work, Joachim Jeremias's Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus is an important reference on the social and economic background of the NT. For the Judaism of the time, I think E.P. Sanders's Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 BCE

[Nevo]

Thanks, Nevo.

Got anything along the lines of verse by verse commentary?

Sure. Which books are you interested in?

Here are my commentary recommendations:

Matthew: R.T. France (NICNT); W.D. Davies and Dale C. Allison (ICC)

Mark: Joel Marcus (YAB); Morna Hooker (BNTC)

Luke: Joseph Fitzmyer (YAB)

John: Raymond Brown (YAB); Andrew Lincoln (BNTC)

Acts: Richard Pervo (Hermeneia); Joseph Fitzmyer (YAB); C.K. Barrett (ICC)

Romans: Robert Jewett (Hermeneia); Joseph Fitzmyer (YAB); C.E.B. Cranfield (ICC)

1 Corinthians: Joseph Fitzmyer (YAB); Raymond Collins (SP); C.K. Barrett (BNTC)

2 Corinthians: Victor Paul Furnish (YAB); Margaret Thrall (ICC)

Galatians: J. Louis Martyn (YAB); J.D.G. Dunn (BTNC); H.D. Betz (Hermeneia)

Ephesians: Peter T. O'Brien (PNTC)

Philippians: Markus Bockmuehl (BNTC)

Colossians:

1&2 Thessalonians: Abraham Malherbe (YAB)

1&2 Timothy/Titus: Philip Towner (NICNT); Luke Timothy Johnson (YAB)

Philemon: Joseph Fitzmyer (YAB)

Hebrews: Harold Attridge (Hermeneia); Craig Koester (YAB)

James: Luke Timothy Johnson (YAB)

1 Peter: J.H. Elliott (YAB); Paul Achtemeier (Hermeneia)

2 Peter/Jude: Peter Davids (PNTC); Richard Bauckham (WBC)

Epistles of John: Raymond Brown (YAB)

Revelation:

[saemo]

"The New Daily Study Bible, 17 Volumes: New Testament" by William Barclay

[Rob Bowman]

PacMan,

Here are just a few suggested resources -- by no means a definitive list. It includes general biblical study resources as well as those specific to the New Testament. I have refrained from listing commentaries on individual NT books to keep this short. See the book by Glynns listed below for a far more extensive list of recommended resources.

Hermeneutics

Carson, D. A. Exegetical Fallacies. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996. Important text discussing fallacies having to do with word study, grammar, logic, presuppositions, and history in biblical interpretation. Most of the examples are drawn from NT studies.

Osborne, Grant R. The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Rev. and expanded. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Perhaps the best hermeneutics textbook available today.

Biblical Studies

Glynn, John. Commentary and Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources. 10th ed. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007. Lists and ranks thousands of resources including commentaries, introductions, dictionaries, publications on Old and New Testament background; Hebrew and Greek study and reference works, theological and historical studies, computer software, and Internet resources.

Backgrounds

Evans, Craig A. Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies: A Guide to the Background Literature. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2005. Indispensable resource that provides summaries, analyses of themes, and introductory bibliographies for the OT Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, various language versions of the OT, Philo and Josephus, the Targums, rabbinic literature, etc.

Evans, Craig A., and Stanley E. Porter, eds. Dictionary of New Testament Background. IVP Bible Dictionary series. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2000. Articles on both the Jewish and Greco-Roman background, dealing with ancient writings, language, culture, religion, etc.

Dictionaries

Martin, Ralph P., and Peter H. Davids, eds. Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments. IVP Bible Dictionary series. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1997.

Reid, Daniel G. The IVP Dictionary of the New Testament: A One-Volume Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004.

Commentaries

Beale, G. K., and D. A. Carson, eds. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007. Leading evangelical NT scholars (Carson, Beale, Mois